On this day, July 18, 1976, Nadia Comaneci was awarded a 10.0 at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Nadia Comăneci



Comăneci at the 1976 Summer Olympics

Country represented: Romania
Born: November 12, 1961 (age 59); Onești, Romania
Residence: Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
Spouse: Bart Conner
Height: 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Retired: May 7, 1984 (official)

{snip the list of medals she's won}

Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (UK: /ˌkɒməˈnɛtʃ (i) /, US: /ˈkoʊməniːtʃ/, Romanian: [ˈnadi.a koməˈnetʃʲ]; born November 12, 1961), known professionally as Nadia Comăneci, is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976 at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. At the same Games (1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal), she received six more perfect 10s for events en route to winning three gold medals. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Comăneci won two more gold medals and attained two more perfect 10s. During her career, Comăneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.

Comăneci is one of the world's best-known gymnasts and is credited with popularizing the sport around the globe. In 2000, she was named as one of the Athletes of the 20th Century by the Laureus World Sports Academy. She has lived in the United States since 1989, when she defected from then-Communist Romania before its revolution in December that year. She later worked with and married American Olympic gold medal gymnast Bart Conner, who set up his own school. In 2001 she became a naturalized United States citizen, and has dual citizenship, also maintaining her Romanian citizenship.

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Summer Olympics in Montreal

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Comăneci at the 1976 Olympics

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"Nadia's Theme"

"Nadia's Theme" refers to an instrumental piece that became linked to Comăneci shortly after the 1976 Olympics. It was part of the musical score of the 1971 film Bless the Beasts and Children and originally titled "Cotton's Dream". It was also used as the title theme music for the American soap opera The Young and the Restless.

Robert Riger used it in association with slow-motion montages of Comăneci on the television program ABC's Wide World Of Sports. The song became a top-10 single in the fall of 1976, and composers Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr. renamed it as "Nadia's Theme" in Comăneci's honor. Comăneci never performed to "Nadia's Theme", however. Her floor exercise music was a medley of the songs "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Jump in the Line," arranged for piano.

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[North Shore Chicago]

1. She was/is so brilliant

at her craft. Thank you for reminding all of us with her gifts of athleticism.

[whistler162]

2. Take a swig of Geritol if

you remember that and the event of 1 month later.

[ratchiweenie]

3. She stunned us all with her perfection.